My first time knitting

I'm a crocheter. I've been crocheting for over 3 years going to a class at a community college in El Cajon, CA. My teacher MaryAnne was AMAZING! She made me excited to crochet and she was assisting the head teacher over the whole class (both crochet and knitting were being taught at the same time) by Athena who took over the knitting section.

 I really enjoy crocheting because it is extremely easy and forgiving if you make a mistake (just rip it out until you reach the stitch you messed up on and continue from there) and crocheting small items, like flowers, is fast and easy... but... I really did NOT like the bulky look a crochet item gives in wearable items like as sweater or gloves or head wear.

 I did crochet a sweater for Dustin which took me over 2 years to make because it was so extremely easy I was easily bored! Ha Ha!

This pattern is from Red Heart and it is called: Father Pullover  It is extremely easy to create and VERY warm (if using Red Heart Yarn I started out with 2 years ago).

 The only knitting I have ever done in my life was about 3 years ago I was sitting in our teeny tiny 2 bedroom apartment in Honolulu, Hawaii (just minutes walk to the beach and 3 min drive to Waikiki! For some that was paradise, but i'm a country girl... I thought at the time I thought we were going to live in Hawaii forever that I wanted to move to the country side of the island which would be from Mililani to North Shore.) and all I did was cast on and what I thought was 1 row... oh my goodness... I didn't know a knit from a purl and just went with what I thought was knitting... Oh dear... Hahahaha!

 Just over 2 weeks ago I had to try knitting. I wanted to learn to spin sock yarn and not just list for sale but to knit socks for my beloved husband as he works on our land to keep his feet warm and dry and for me and other loved ones as well.

 So I had leftover yarn I purchased from Walmart 4 years ago (I wasn't going to use my hand spun yarn. Haha I put a lot of work in that! I needed some practice yarn first before I try my hand at knitting my spun yarn.) and looked up youtube videos on the basic knit and purl and I began to practice. After 2 rounds of immediately understanding I had some US13 circular needles and decided to learn how to rib in the round. I was itching to not waste time and begin creating something.

 I searched and searched for a very SIMPLE knitting pattern for fingerless gloves after I found this pattern on Pinterest I found that though I didn't need it, she used double pointed needles.

 I went from only knowing cast on on straight needles to quickly jumping onto double pointed needles and not just that... but size ONE double pointed needles because I was working with fingering merino/mohair yarn I purchased at a yarnival in California before we moved to Tennessee (beautiful yarn)!!!!

 When I want to learn something, i'm determined. I dive in and then learn to swim. I'm insane in the membrane!

 I purchased size 1 double pointed needles and circular needles. I wanted to try one glove on each kind to get practice in at the same time.

 My first glove was on DPN.

 My husband and I were at a local mom and pop coffee shop that is non-profit to help families who have a heart for children to adopt! Plus their coffee is delicious and the ambience is relaxing, perfect for studying and crafting...

 I took out my DPN from it's packaging and I thought, "Wow... these needles sure are tiny and... the stitches can easily fall off the other end if i'm not careful and... I have to use all 4 at the same time in this pattern... and I have a fifth needle to use as my working needle... alrighty then."

Cast on and first row

 Listen to me and listen to me good... It took me 4... FOUR stinkin hours to cast on AND knit1 purl1 first row. FOUR HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I remember how I thought, "pffffttt, I can easily do this. Come on now." when I read the pattern, my hands thought, "A little over confident up there in your head, girly.", my hands were right.

 I wanted to take one needle and stab at my ball of yarn and scream, "DIE! DIE! DIE!", I was literally this guy below:

 But I am no quitter... I kept practicing casting on and making sure my yarn wasn't twisted at each corner and while I was knitting along I was shaking because I was gripping so hard that I was literally sweating... i'm not kidding. I... was... sweating!

But after 4 hours of not giving up I finally got my cast on and first row perfectly!

I was so proud of my cast on and first row I wore it. Lol!

 The next couple days I kept going extremely slowly as to not mess it up and I enjoyed the rustic-ness double pointed needles feel and look like while using them, I felt like if I could do this! I can do anything! I kept going about 2 inches when I finally reached the part of the pattern that said to continue in stockinette stitch. Phew! Easy, all I gotta do is knit since there is no turning my work.

How cool to work all 5 needles! Very rustic and beautiful to behold.

La la la la laaaaaa... knit, knit, knit with confidence this time as if I was doing it for ages, I reached about 4 inches of stockinette when for the first time I actually looked at my work... wait ... what the...

No... NO GOD NO! I looked at the ribbing on the cuffs and the beginning looks good until at the halfway point I must have accidentally turned my work inside out or I began knitting the other way, no matter, I was knitting on the WRONG SIDE!!!! ::face palm:: and there I went just knitting away like a doofus! Anger made another special appearance.

yep... was knitting on the wrong side. Sigh.

This is right side! Can you tell the difference? By the way, this is from my second glove i'm working on with circular needles as my left glove is completely done.

 So I tried frogging (Which is not a stitch that looks like a frog so I learned.) and I did manage to go back quite some ways without ripping the whole thing out but that didnt work because I kept messing it up more. So... with a sigh of defeat, I took off the yarn from my needles and began to rip it ALL out. Felt like a kick to the gut.

 Did I give up? Pfffttt... NO! After talking to the yarn with dominance " you WILL submit, do you hear me? You WILL turn into a glove and you will LIKE IT!" and gave a pep talk to my needles, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings... shut up." I did some stretching and settled down and put on some Rocky music and pumped up to "Eye of the Tiger" as Sadie Girl watched on without batting a eye as she is used to seeing her Mistress go crazy... away I went... 13 stitches on each needle and and ribbing began from there, but this time I was super careful I didn't do anything stupid.

 FINALLY! I reached the point where I found out I was knitting wrong side and continued... I never felt so excited in all my knitting years-... I mean days!

If I wasn't crazy enough, after I reached past the thumb gusset I decided to look at YouTube videos and other blog patterns on how to make individual fingers but only halfway to keep the tips free! I am happy to say I actually found a way and had to improvise by increasing/decreasing so that it would be snug on my fingers and not too tight nor loose.

I had a scare. I thought I completely lost my fifth needle and as you can see in the background I tore the living room up! Thanks to my mom and dad who helped me locate it!

 Listen, don't be intimidated by anything... give what you are curious to create a try and don't give up! Ya, you WILL have a headache and want to stab your eye out with a DPN but hey... that only means you need to back away for a breather and return when you're ready... because when you finish it, you will feel extremely motivated and proud of yourself!

 Now that I have done gloves, I will be working with my own yarn to make beanies, gloves and soon be spinning sock yarn to knit up some socks! This is some fun stuff!

Here you see that I am knitting the index finger. It looks scary at first but in all honesty... it's NO big deal.

You don't have to start knitting at the VERY basic, if you have a knack for understanding the pattern and can follow a video or a friend/class then you can create anything with any kind of needles.

I'm a first time knitter and I created gloves with DPN and Circular needles. 

left glove: double pointed needles. right glove: circular needles

Adding beads while spinning singles

 I have been mastering a certain way of adding beads onto a single spun yarn at the same time you are spinning with only using a fishing wire!

 I've done the crochet hook method onto un-spun fiber but with some of the beads, even the teeniest tiniest crochet hook just will not fit through! So after much thought I decided to try using the wire that the beads I purchased already came with (I purchased my beads from Michael's for this yarn I made) and even if you purchase loose beads, you can easily just string them onto fishing wire.

I made a youtube video, with the help of my husband, that I will explain how simple it really is to do it! 

What you will need:

• Beads: Make sure the beads you use will fit through your orifice AND flyer hooks. Trust me.

•  Fishing wire 
• Fiber of your choosing: For me I hand dyed some border leicester locks with Jacquard dye giving it a ocean inspired color and on one bobbin I spun straight from the lock but for the second bobbin I hand carded and then rolled into rolags using crochet hooks.

spinning from lock

Make your own rolags with hooks

 

 I hope it was simple enough to understand and I hope you enjoyed it! 

Under the Sea will soon be available for purchase in my Etsy Shop!

There is something about my man...

A hay bale at the top of our new land cut and baled by our neighbor for his horses

" ... I'll fly away, fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)...."                                   




Softly Allison Krauss was singing away on my laptop in our small apartment living room. Sadie girl was gnawing away on her chew toy at the feet of my darling husband... Dustin had his feet up on our $15 table I found at a thrift store, sighing as he usually did when browsing the web looking at homesteading sites. Dreaming... always dreaming but yet had a restlessness within him that was longing to bring to life these dreams he had, yet, glancing around our small 2 bedroom apartment in the small town of Alpine, CA with only a teeny tiny backyard (enough for Sadie Girl to walk around in) proved that all he could do was dream of the farm and farm animals he desired to have in order to be self sustaining.


Darling husband looked to his left with a small smile as his wife sat quietly trying out her very new drop spindle she purchased for only $17 which also bought a small amount of alpaca roving. She sat there frowning over her spindle trying to understand it and though the frustration was growing her determination was growing, she would not give up! Finally, her spindle began to twirl awkwardly, yet she was understanding she had to pinch and draft... the weight of the spindle wouldn't draft the roving itself!

With a sigh of contentment she leaned back and relaxed spinning away.

I recently went to Yuma, AZ with my parents to pick up a dodge neon that used to be mine. While there I visited my dad's parents and he picked guamachil fruit from their property to bring back to Tennessee and plant on our property and hopefully it will grow! The buds in the pod that hold black seeds you eat and it taste like a very sweet almond with even a hint of tamarind (what I tasted). Very beautiful and delicious!

There this young couple sat enjoying the quiet evening but yet inside her husband he was wrestling with an urge to just... just... "... I'll fly away... i'll fly away..." the song continued. That was it! He wanted to fly away with his tiny family and start his dream, but how? When? Where?

 Elisa looked at dear husband and casually brought up homesteading and dreaming along with him about purchasing land and becoming more self sustaining, he then said, "But what primary farm animal would we want? I want to handle animals for a purpose... but I wonder what?" as he said these words he was hypnotized by the spindle beginning to finally lose it's awkward twirl and began to confidently twirl gracefully as it's handler kept drafting more confidently. 

Wild raspberries, a colorful butterfly, and happy bumble bee... so much life on our land!

Elisa stopped the spindle and placed it on her lap and looked up at the ceiling wondering along with him and with a nonchalant tone, " Would be nice to handle sheep for the wool. Maybe have a small business spinning yarn or selling the raw fleece..."

As if there was a sonic boom we both jumped at the idea Elisa mentioned and looked at each other, Dustin placed his feet on the ground and sat up straight and said firmly with a flash in his eyes, "That is it! That is IT!"




He then began to research on sheep, looking at photos and videos and could not STOP! His passion began, his dream was one step closer to becoming a reality, there in the small 2 bedroom apartment where they dwelt in the small town of Alpine, CA.

Spinning away at the top of our property... so much inspiration around me!

What I am currently spinning: Under the Sea

   Fast forward to today...

There we were on our 22 acre pastured land in the great state of Tennessee 1 year and 8 months after that conversation looking at the beauty of what God has blessed us with in awe how far we have come in just a short amount of time... an added blessing is that my parents has invested in this land believing in our dream and will also build their dream cottage just a walk away!

My husband working so hard near our pond

 Today, I watched my husband as he passionately used my father's weed whacker and removed long grass that was not cut by a neighbor (who cut our pasture for hay for his horses) and as he rested from his work he would have this serene look in his face and excitement in his eyes... I saw it... A man who has found his purpose and realizing that his dream was no longer just a dream but now becoming a reality. 

Taking a much needed nap. How handsome is my man!

There is nothing more sexy than a man who won't stop dreaming and working toward his passion. Nothing more attractive than a man working in the hot sun sweating away, smelling of the earth, with eyes filled with determination and a heart consistently thanking the Lord or His goodness and mercy and guidance! 

There I worked alongside him cutting down branches at a nearby tree where we will be building our small tiny temporary home until we have raised enough funds to build our dream farmhouse. 

Dreamers dream but people of passion take action.

My grizzly man, how you inspire me and I am constantly rising in love with you.

Wool Study: Tunis

My last post I shared a mini wool study about romney locks I recently purchased and now I can't wait to share my findings about this mostly unheard jewel of a wool: Tunis

I did not take this photo, I just found it on Google Images, but whoever did take it, what a perfect shot! What Cutie Patuties!

 I first have to share how I got it...

 Last January I was blessed by my husband with an amazing birthday gift - driving all the way to The Woolery to purchase my very first raw fleece. Just a few weeks before that my parents blessed me with my very first spinning wheel (Ashford Kiwi 2 from the smoky mountain spinnery) and for the past 3 months before that I discovered how yarn was made (I never even knew as a crocheter! Silly, I know! I just purchased all my yarn from Walmart or Michael's and never really cared how animal or plant fibers were spun into yarn!) and bought a very simply drop spindle for $17. 

Anyways... The birthday gift...

We drove from Knoxville, TN to Frankfurt, KY and I felt like I was going to Disneyland!!!!

When I saw the shop i'm surprised I didn't jump out of the car while it was still moving and ran toward the window and press my face against the glass like the boy in a Christmas Story seeing his dream toy, a Red Rider BB Gun... oh, Ralphie, I know how you felt!

I walked in and I swear I saw Santa Clause and his elves shearing some sheep and bagging it all for sale... maybe it was just my imagination and giddiness, just agree with me I saw them.

Before we arrived I was extremely nervous because i've never handled raw fleece and had NO idea that sheep had different breeds, they were just sheep.

The whole drive there I was searching on my phone what the Woolery had in fleeces and then I began to Google what sheep was what and how their wool will spin and even then I had no idea if I was making the right choice! You see, the only thing I spun was alpaca and roving from the spinnery (Merino). Everything was already done all I had to do was choose a color and spin. But no, I wanted to learn and start from the beginning! I didn't have a sheep and I didn't shear one so buying raw fleece was my beginning.

I decided to choose Tunis because of this bit I read: Thomas Jefferson loved Tunis so much he preferred them over his merino's and George Washington kept them on the lawn of the White House and I just thought, "That's cool and patriotic. Okie Dokie." That was pretty much it.

 My husband bought 4 pounds of it and some other fun tools and I just could not wait to get home and wash it...

The next day I woke up so excited, I grabbed all four bags and dumped them out and then realized they were compacted so perfectly that when they all were released it was... like... a lot... oops.

So I had to separate all of them and began to go through one pound at a time and then I had another realization... this isn't all that easy, it is HARD going through all this and having no idea what I was doing. What was I doing? What am I supposed to look for or throw away? I looked at youtube videos and blogs and thought I was soooooo prepared but now that it came down to it I had no idea what I was doing, but I can pretend I know what i'm doing so what did I do? Just fluffed it all up and panicking in my head.

Right is dirty wool and on the left is clean and it didn't felt! Shocking for a first time fleece cleaner!

 Finally, I just calmed down and had my hubby help me get rid of any nasty stuff and anything that had too much VM to even bother cleaning and the locks were actually really awesome... so AWESOME that I just forgot all about that and guess what I did? I just threw the whole fleece in the washer to soak and used A LOT of Dawn soap even though there was not that much lanolin. Yup! I never separated any gorgeous locks. I just threw them all in there... and just stood there and did nothing... nothing... ::face palm::

Soaking ONLY in a washer.

 But it was really by the grace of God that not only did it NOT felt (I was extremely careful not to agitate it) but there was such a beautiful softness I began to cry that I didn't ruin it! 

What I did all last year was card it in with alpaca and merino and hand dyed it and i've always been given great reviews on it, I loved the elasticity of a Tunis. But I never actually spun a tunis all by itself. Never! I know! That is absurd but it's true!

So finally just a few days ago with the tunis I still had left, I spun singles (wpi 40 which is thread weight) and 2 ply giving it a wpi 36 (thread weight).

and this is what I learned:

The spinning was effortless. So effortless that it was almost silky and felt extremely slippery. Fleece quality: 24 to 30 microns, a staple length of 4 - 6 inches, 56 - 58 spinning count wool and very lustrous!

I really love the natural creme color!


Next wool study I hope to do Wensleydale, but if not then either Border Leicester or Lincoln. Stay tuned!

Wool Study: Romney

I did not take this photo, taken directly from Pinterest raising sheep board. Very awesome photos there!

I think it is very important as a spinner and future shepherdess (alongside my shepherd of a hunk of a man) that I not just understand how to spin (different techniques and artistic add ons such as color) but understand what i'm spinning.

 My desire for this wool study is not just come to a conclusion of what kind of breed(s) we would like to keep (my husband is doing his own kind of study as well) but to handle these fibers so much I can just feel if it is medium or fine for example (i'm also learning about micron's/spinning count) and exactly what this exact fiber can be used for, plus so much more!

 Please understand i'm completely novice at this, so if you have any extra information that you can share or if I got something wrong, please let me know! I want to learn! Much of my study is not just what I have handled but what i've researched and I want to share what i've learned so far.

One weekend my family and I went to Wild Life Week in Pigeon Forge, TN (it was so much fun!) and there, as vendors, was my all time FAVORITE spinnery - Smoky Mountain Spinnery and while everyone was looking at the gorgeous yarn and tools, I made a bee line to a large basin filled with raw Romney locks.

Here is a short video on my Instagram recording the lovely booth of The Smoky Mountain Spinnery during Wild Life Week, enjoy! :)




  Just to touch them the first time was like touching rare jewels! Immediately I was drawn with my eyes at the natural color, a dark chocolate staple length with the tips a caramel color and some beautiful grays here and there.

The crimp was exquisite and held together very well.

When I grabbed a handful I immediately noticed there was hardly any lanolin and the plus was there was pretty much no VM! I had to ask about this beauty!

I came to find out this fleece was a blue ribbon winner (4-H). so I purchased 2 oz of it (and I was pleased because I knew I was purchasing the weight of the locks itself and not the grease as some breeds give have A LOT of lanolin in their fleeces that sometimes you are paying for the grease more than the fleece, for example - merino.) and took my jewels home with me!

 There was no need for a deep wash because, well... hardly any grease! I could have spun in the grease but I didn't feel like it. haha!

 I just gave it a gentle wash  to rid of the grease but to keep the softness. After it was dried a day later I then took my hand carder and gently flicked both cut end and tip of a couple locks and begin to spin...

Oh... my... GOODNESS!!!! The spin was effortless. I was even able to practice the long draw! I was able to spin wpi 36 which is thread weight. I did two single spun and 2 ply them together to make a wpi 32 which is lace weight!

One thing I have learned is romney fleece truly is lustrous! High yielding and spins easily, from what i've researched over all the spinning count is 50 to 44 (i'm still learning more about that) which is equivalent to about 29 - 36 microns. Definitely low grease which means fleece will weigh more than lanolin which is a huge plus!

The natural colors has stolen my heart, the spin was relaxing and the results was amazing! Up next... Tunis!

Top we have single spun thread weight. Bottom braid is 2 ply lace weight

Both tip and cut ends gently flicked and fanned. So fluffy!

So beautiful to spin!

We are back with incredible news!

Oh my... it has been AGES since i've written in my blog! Many things have been happening in my life since October of 2015 to now (May 2016). Some things that have kept me away have been character building and my patience was stretched and strengthened and many other things (more good than "bad") have been so amazing I just didn't have time to keep my blog updated!

 But for now, everything has calmed down to the point that I can finally sit down and write, i've missed this!

In just 6 months my knowledge in my craft has increased and my art has improved so much and my passion has sky rocketed through the sky when it comes to crafting and spinning, one thing that has got me so excited was my parents have FINALLY made Tennessee their home!

 Oh Joy! My parents are my heroes. They have been there for my husband and myself through so much (good and bad), they are our example and many times I will hear my husband whisper to me, "Their love and godliness is a relationship goal for you and I."

My parents on the left (my mom was 21 and my dad 19 ) and today. almost 42 years married and going strong!

 This past April they finally put California behind them (they made California home for over 35 years) as they realized Dustin and I are their only close family left and wanted to be close to us, especially since Dustin and I are desiring children, so what better experience to have grandparents so close by.

 When they arrived we four began to look for land to purchase so that we four can build two homes on it and be closer to our dream of homesteading and keeping sheep... It happened!!!!!!


We are now owners of 22 acres of open pastured land with a large pond! The owner used it to only graze cattle and now that he is in his 80s he wanted to sell it. My parents and I teamed up and quickly purchased and now we are in the process of getting permits for septic and building. We are so overwhelmed with excitement we cant stop talking about it! 

First thing we did after we closed the sale was head over to our future home and take a picture. This is just one part of the whole land... so much beauty!

One of the first things we four did is stake the site where we want to build. Throughout the building process I will be taking photos and sharing when I can. If you want to quickly see how we are doing and don't want to wait until I write on here, please visit our Instagram.

 The grass has been growing so much it has reached past my waist. A neighbor was so wonderful he came and introduced himself to us and asked if he may cut all the grass for hay which we were more than happy to say, YES! 

We are learning to recognize what is being grown on our property from what is good to what is not and we even found barley being grown in patches here and there throughout on part of the pasture, so that was exciting to see!

 My parents home will be just seconds walk from where we will be building! Not too close where we have no privacy but close enough to see. It seems we four will be building from scratch and since my dad has experience building small homes we four will be building from the ground up! 

 My parents will be building a 2 bedroom small home and because my husband and I want to eventually build a farmhouse we will be building a tiny home to quickly have it done (hopefully by the end of the summer we will be done with it. We shall see.) so that we can save up and maybe in 5 years we can begin building.

 We do want to immediately have chickens and prepare our garden so that by next spring everything is going strong and Dustin is think in a year to 2 years time we shall have our first flock! 

Dustin taking off the For Sale sign from our fence... that sure felt amazing!

At the moment, we are unsure what breed(s) we want to keep (for sure we want a dual breed) so I just began a Wool Study to see what breed I like the best to spin from and even see how we can even crossbreed if we wish, but that is more for later. It's all going to be a lot of work and we just can't wait to get in there and make our dreams become a reality.

I bought Dustin a shirt from Livin' Country to congratulate him being a step closer on homesteading and becoming a shepherd... Yes, that is an outhouse design on the shirt! Lol! He loves this shirt so much he's been wearing it as much as possible! Check them out!

So far, I have spun and still have pure Border Leicester locks, long wool Lincoln locks, suri alpaca, and just got my hands on 2 oz of blue ribbon (local 4-H) Romney locks and waiting on 2 oz Wensleydale locks. 

 So much happening, so much to do and we have a lifetime to do it! What an adventure we are living!

Dustin standing next to our large pond. Water level is low but will rise again hopefully soon!